Is Radical Business for You? – Part 3, Chic

This is the third in a series of columns presenting ideas for short term businesses to survive and thrive through the long term financial challenges confronting us. The first post focused on . The second evaluated . Now I will examine radical chic.

Some people have a special gift for understanding what the next ‘in’ thing will be. They seem attuned to the zeitgeist of their peer group or demographic or a broader swath of society. Do you have this ability? Are you always a step ahead of the next cool trend?

This is the woman who digs some ancient piece of houndstooth fabric out of a sale bin to upholster chairs, the season before houndstooth explodes on everything from men’s ties to sheets. Or it’s the man who orders an unusual shade of bronze custom paint on his new car, months before that exact color, which no one has seen used anywhere, turns up everywhere. It’s the person who starts creating easy and healthy blueberry recipes from the bushes growing wild in her back yard shortly before blueberries become the food press darling because they're an ideal food on the glycemic index.  

If you have this talent, consider what you could do to use it for your financial benefit. While abilities can manifest in many ways, how can you become recognized, and paid, as a trend detective? Check out Faith Popcorn. She’s used her trend-determining abilities to form an esteemed consultancy which helps major corporation make product planning decisions.

Then there are the Kardashians, a family of (mostly) women, who seem to be highly attuned to the cultural preferences of the moment. They know their marketing window will not stay open forever, and they are maximizing opportunities while they have them.

With this talent for understanding what’s hot and what’s going to be desirable to consumers, you can create a business that is uniquely you. Remember that a trend, by its very nature, is short-lived. As you conceptualize your brand, it cannot be associated with any specific trend because you will not seem current, which is an essential element of a trend-detective.

Tips for your chic business:

• Develop a business plan. Depending on how you manifest your talent in a functional business, your business plan may be different from traditional plans. That’s okay. The important thing is to plan.
• Be realistic about your finances. With the exuberance of stylish ideas, it’s easy to feel excessively optimistic about income versus expenses. It’s a business; you need to deliver profits.
• Carefully plan your marketing. Building alliances with editors who regularly write about your field can be very beneficial, whether it’s a style editor on your home town paper or editors for major magazines. If you’re doing unique work, and you’re both informative and delightful to talk with, you’ll be able to establish relationships with the press, which will help you build your business. 

Do you have the skills to pull this off? Anticipating radical chic can be great fun and highly profitable.